The aptly named Golden Rock is a very sacred site for Buddhist believers and marked my first stop outside Yangon. It is thought that anyone who observes the gravity-defying nature of this rock will have no choice but to accept Buddhism as truth. The rock does not slide down the mountain because it is held firmly in place by a Buddha hair. Despite what the case may be the rock has stayed firmly in place through multiple recorded earthquakes. While perhaps it is not a supernatural boulder, it is nonetheless an extraordinary one.

The closest village to the Rock is located 7 miles away at the bottom of the mountain. I arrived by bus at around 2:30PM and was faced with the decision of whether to attempt to climb the mountain that day  to make it for sunset (as was the plan) or wait until the next morning and miss the sunset. But there was a catch. The last jeep  down the mountain leaves at 6:00PM and if I missed it I would be faced with a long, dark journey back on foot. I decided to give it a shot, and immediately started down the wrong trail. After about a mile I realized my error, and more motivated than ever ended up covering a total of 8.5 miles up the mountain in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Made it! I spent 30 minutes around the shrine and boarded the last jeep 10 minutes early, just to make sure.